AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): The US State Department on Wednesday called on Israel to refrain from restricting Palestinian worshipers from their access to Al-Aqsa Mosque during the holy month of Ramadan.
Matthew Miller, the spokesman of the US State Department, was responding to a question raised by a reporter about a recent proposal by far-right Israeli minister Itamar Ben-Gvir to bar Palestinians from Islam’s third holiest site.
Washington would ask Tel Aviv to facilitate the access of worshipers to Al-Aqsa Mosque during Ramadan, Miller told reporters.
He said that "it is not in Israel's interest to inflame tensions in the West Bank or in a wider region" but declined to comment on whether such actions would have consequences.
Last week, Ben-Gvir proposed barring Palestinians from the occupied West Bank and other occupied territories in 1948 from praying at al-Aqsa.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said a "final decision" has not been taken on the proposal and Israeli media have reported that the Israeli cabinet has revoked the authority of Ben-Gvir related to Al-Aqsa Mosque.
The head of Hamas' Political Bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, called Wednesday for a mass movement on al-Aqsa for the start of Ramadan.
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